Myths and Realities of Being a Travel Blogger

Myths Vs. Realities of Being
a Travel Blogger
Laurel Robbins
LaurelRobbins.com
Monkeys and Mountains | Adventure Travel Blog
©LaurelRobbins.com MonkeysandMountains.com Twitter.com/Laurel_Robbins

Myths & Realities of Being a
Travel Blogger
4 Myths vs. Realities
Still want to be a travel blogger? How to do it?

Myth #1:
You Get Free
Travel

Reality of Free Travel?
.
Yes, you can get your expenses paid, but….

Reality of Free Travel: It’s
Anything But Free
Likely be held to a strict itinerary with frequently
long days
While you are on your free trip you will be:
 Constantly promoting the destination/activity on your
social media accounts
Editing photos
Writing blog posts about the trip (usually happens after
the trip)

Reality of Free Travel
Free travel is not a
vacation, it’s an
exchange of services

Myth #2: Running a
Travel
Blog is
Easy…Anyone Can
Do It

Reality of Running a Travel
Blog
Yes, anyone can
create a travel blog
and call
themselves a
travel blogger,
but…

Reality of Running a
Travel Blog
To run a successful travel blog you need to
have the following skills:
Writing
Photography and photo editing
 Social media know-how across multi-platforms
Knowledge of WordPress
Basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) knowledge
Creative thinker
Ability to pitch and sell yourself to DMOs/tour
companies/hotels

Reality of Running a Travel
Blog
And time. Travel Blogging is very time
consuming
When you’re starting out you should be posting at least 3-
4 times a week on your own blog and writing 1-2 guest
posts a week for other popular blogs.
In addition to writing the posts there’s also the
photography and promoting the posts via social media
and SEO research required for each post.

Reality #3: You Can Work
From the Beach….But You
Probably Won’t

Myth #4: You Can
Earn a Living From
Travel Blogging

Reality of Making a Living
From Travel Blogging
Yes, but very few people do.
If making money is your key objective, there are
5 billion easier ways to make it other than from
travel blogging

Reality of Making a Living
From Your Travel Blog
Making Money Directly From Your Blog
Corporate sponsorship
Affiliate marketing (works best when site is
very niche specific)
Advertising
But there is another way….the best way in my
opinion…

Realities of Earning a Living
The best way to make money from your travel blog?
Use your blog as a platform to showcase your other
related skills:
 Photography
 Writing
 Social media
 Graphic/web design
 SEO
 Paid speaking gigs
 Endless possibilities

Realities of Earning a Living
Why is using your blog as a platform to
showcase your other skills the best way to
earn money from your travel blog?
Because in a sea of thousands of travel
bloggers, it allows you to stand out, to
become known for something, to be
unique, to showcase your own style.

Case Studies: Laurel Robbins,
Michael Turtle, Nienke Krook,
Laurence Noah
Write an e-book
We each wrote a series of
three books, published by
Travel Bloggers United
(TBU)

Case Study: Laurence Noah,
Finding the Universe
Laurence Noah, along with two
other bloggers, formed Lightmoves
Creative, a photography collective
focused on helping our clients
create unique images for their
campaigns…
“Like everything, it’s a question of
identifying your individual
strengths, and packaging that in a
way that fills a need in a
professional and attractive way.”
Laurence Noah
Image courtesy of: Laurence Noah

Case Study: Gillian Duffy, One
Giant Step
 Gillian capitalized on her love of reading and created The
Global Bookshelf, a website that sells travel books.
 She receives a commission every time she sells a book.

Case Study: Abhishek Behl
Wild Navigator
Abhishek uses his site as a platform for his consulting service
in responsible tourism & wildlife conservation. In the coming
weeks it will become a responsible travel operator.

Case Study: Laurel Robbins,
Monkeys and Mountains
I turned my strengths of Twitter know-how and social media time
optimization into an online consulting and training company:
LaurelRobbins.com which shows clients how to:
Turn Conversations into Customers in Just 10 Minutes a Day

Getting Started: Quick Tips
 Define your niche. How will your site be different than all the others?
 Write engaging content that serves a purpose and include photos that
take readers to the place you’re describing.
 Choose a revenue generating model:
 Be patient, it takes time to earn money from travel blogging
 Don’t be afraid to experiment
 Invest in your self: Writing, photography, social media, SEO.
 Connect with other travel bloggers, bloggers outside of traveling and
industry. Ask lots of questions.
 Invest in building your following. It’s a long, slow process but worth it.

Thank you
Happy Travels
Questions?
Laurel Robbins
LaurelRobbins.com
Monkeys and Mountains
Twitter:@Laurel_Robbins

Myths and Realities of Being a Travel Blogger

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